


Choral Harmony

by Ephemera_pop (Alex_Draven)



Category: Popslash
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, London, M/M, Multi, Secret Santa, UK AU, mtyg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-25
Updated: 2010-12-25
Packaged: 2018-10-19 14:56:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10642200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alex_Draven/pseuds/Ephemera_pop
Summary: The East London Queer Chorus were standing in the supermarket lobby, wearing cheap Santa hats and swags of tinsel like feather boas, singing Jingle Bells and mostly being ignored by the passing shoppers. AJ was shaking the donations bucket in time with Brian's tambourine to provide the jingles, and generally acting the clown, but that wasn't what had caught Chris's eye.Every time AJ looked across at Lance, his smile was as bright as the fairy lights he'd wrapped around his hat, and every time AJ caught Chris looking at him, the smile dimmed and AJ turned away hurriedly, like he'd been caught doing something wrong. It was even more obvious than the little flirty glances he'd been giving Lance at the last rehearsal, which Chris wasn't 100% sure he'd really seen until this confirmed it.Chris wasn't dumb - he might be grumpy, and busy, and exhausted by the combination of the choir's Christmas schedule and the last few days of the school term, but he wasn't dumb and he was anything but unobservant. He was going to have to say something, before things got all screwed up. Again.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Melanie, for Make the Yuletide Gay, 2010

It was during their second concert that Chris decided he was going to have to say something. Maybe 'concert' was a bit optimistic, but - performance. The East London Queer Chorus were standing in the supermarket lobby, wearing cheap Santa hats and swags of tinsel like feather boas, singing Jingle Bells and mostly being ignored by the passing shoppers. AJ was shaking the donations bucket in time with Brian's tambourine to provide the jingles, and generally acting the clown, but that wasn't what had caught Chris's eye.

Every time AJ looked across at Lance, his smile was as bright as the fairy lights he'd wrapped around his hat, and every time AJ caught Chris looking at him, the smile dimmed and AJ turned away hurriedly, like he'd been caught doing something wrong. It was even more obvious than the little flirty glances he'd been giving Lance at the last rehearsal, which Chris wasn't 100% sure he'd really seen until this confirmed it.

Chris wasn't dumb - he might be grumpy, and busy, and exhausted by the combination of the choir's Christmas schedule and the last few days of the school term, but he wasn't dumb and he was anything but unobservant. He was going to have to say something, before things got all screwed up. Again.

***

"Really?"

"Yes, really. You didn't notice?"

"I don't ... no?" Lance didn't sound sure, and Chris looked over, to where Lance was crumpled into the passenger seat of Chris's tiny rust-bucket.

"Trust me - I look in the mirror every day - I know what someone who's smitten with you looks like."

Lance snorted, and said "right," with that warm, wry tone of voice that made Chris so very glad he'd gotten over his commitment issues. Two years on New Years - who'd have ever thought it?

The light was still red, so Chris took the chance to reach over and fondle Lance's thigh. "Really, truly, and I mean it. Him and me, both. Clearly, the guy has better taste than you'd imagine from the way he dresses sometimes."

"You are never going to forgive him for that, are you?" Lance deflected the compliment.

"He turned up to our first ever paying-punters concert in a doily!"

"We were in the Barrowman - the punters weren't complaining."

"Doily!" Chris instead, taking his hand back to coax his Mini into gear.

"Fishnet and tattoos."

"Doily."

"Six pack and eyeliner."

"I didn't say he didn't look hot, I'm just saying, a doily in not an appropriate outfit, let alone for a concert."

"Right, yes. Okay - agreed - my best friend's boyfriend is both hot and sometimes sartorially challenged. But he doesn't fancy me. He's head over heels for Joe - do you not remember our last rehearsal?"

"The part where he serenaded Joe with Maria Carey's sap, when Joe finally turned up, or at the pub after, when we were all in danger of diabetic comas?"

"Exactly." Lance's hand crept over to rest on Chris's thigh. "They seem happy, right?"

"Loved up and ridiculous. Absolutely. And now we've got JC arranging All I Want for Christmas to make it seem less hetronormative so we can all suffer together. I'm not questioning how AJ feels about Joe - that's one couple I don't worry about - but that doesn't mean he's not looking at you.

Chris could feel Lance's stare burning into the side of his face, and carefully kept his eyes on the road, crawling through traffic and rain. How Lance had managed to remain so innocent whist dating him, not to mention having been friends with Joey for so long, Chris could never quite figure out.

"Anyway - do you think Kelly's going to get JC and Justin to agree on how best to do the recording?" Chris diverted the conversation, to give the ideas he's stirred up time to soak into Lance's busy brain.

"Oh - didn't I tell you? I had lunch with Alysa and 'Tina Thursday - you know 'Tina's got a concession in the Christmas Market, right?"

"Uh hu." Chris nodded, most of his attention on trying to find a gap in the traffic to let him turn off the main road into their estate.

"Right, well, Alyssa had been talking with Pollyanna, and she said that Howie said he and Kevin had come up with a plan."

"Yeah?"

Finally! A gap! Chris gunned it, and the mini lurched forward. Lance's hand gripped the chicken strap tightly, but he didn't say a word.

"You know Leighanne works at the hospice, right?"

"Leighanne, Britney's ex, or Leighanne, Kristen's Leighanne?"

"Kristen's - that's how Kelly got us the gig there. "

"That makes sense. Lesbian networking."

"Don't knock it when it works - anyway - Leighanne works at the hospice, so she's going to let Howie and Kevin set up some mikes and stuff before we all pitch up - that way there will be a recording of us, whether or not JC and Justin ever agree on a process."

Chris grinned. "Oh, that's genius. Does Kelly know?"

"I don't think so - I think they're waiting until it's done, so they can hand over the cd and save the day in one fell swoop."

"I love it. Those two have been making me insane recently with all their drama, and Kell doesn't need any more stress right now. Trust Kevin to just cut straight through the bullshit and solve the actual problem."

"It does just slice the Gordian knot, doesn't it. I mean, if we ever raise the funds for a proper album, then JC and Justin are going to make us sound incredible, but - yeah. If we want something this year, I think the stealth plan is the way to go."

Stealth plan, Chris thought to himself. Maybe ...

***

The back room of the pub was warm, and crowded with the whole Chorus plus all their associated partners and friends who'd been roped into support roles so got invited to all the socials. Chris and Lance weren't the first ones there - they'd dropped off the instruments at the Chorus' storage locker, and then left the car at home, preferring to take the tube down to the pub so they didn't have to designate a driver - but they were both deep in conversation, drinks in hands, by the time Kelly leaned over the bar and borrowed the last-orders bell to get everyone's attention.

"Listen up, folks!" Her strong alto voice carried over the Celtic carols on the sound system. "Want to know how much we raised this afternoon?"

A cheer went up, and Chris raised his pint and his voice in agreement.

"I know it was cold, I know we didn't get a lot of applause, but I think we sounded good - and we just dropped off three hundred ..."

She was interrupted by cheers and applause and people hammering on the tables.

"Wait for it - three hundred and ninety six pounds and twelve pence! Topped up, that's four hundred pounds to the Albert Kennedy Trust today - Four hundred. We did good, ladies, gents, and genderpunks. We did damned good!"

***

The night was cold and damp when Chris stepped outside to light up. The fire door closing behind him cut off the buzz of two dozen conversations, leaving him with just muted traffic noise for company - the low cloud that provided the drizzle that was cooling his skin was also deadening the sound, making the small pub yard seem isolated and intimate, a safe space to stop and draw breath, away from everyone and everything.

He perched on the edge of a damp table, and rooted around in his jacket for cigarettes and a lighter.

That first inhale, and the long exhale that seemed to draw all the tension out of him... He kept saying he was going to quit - it was a three-a-day vestigial habit - but moments like this said he wasn't.

December was always just a crazy time of year - being responsible for twenty-four hyper eight- year-olds was never a low-energy job, but the nearer it got to Christmas the more frantic they got, and the more their parents wanted to be involved, and the more after school things there were, and the more everything else there was, too - family, friends, charity stuff, Chorus stuff. It was just as bad for Lance, working retail - even high-end menswear had a Christmas rush.

Chris wanted to think through the plan that had been coming together in his head, because however much he was a 'go for your dreams' kind of guy, he was also kind of committed to not screwing up his life. He'd done enough screwing up when he and Lance had first started hooking up to last a life time, and now they were past that... Actually, having finally got past the whole both of them thinking the other one wasn't really serious about wanting more than just casual hookups thing, and given how well that had been working out so far, maybe this really wouldn't be such a screw up? Better odds than not doing anything and waiting for the situation to sour naturally, even.

A spike in volume jolted Chris out of his ruminations, and he twisted round to see Joey letting the fire door swing shut behind him.

"Hey, you made it!"

"Course I made it!" Joey swept Chris up into a warm hug, and then glared at Chris's burnt-down cigarette. "I thought you were quitting?"

"Eh." Chris waved the comment away. "So what kept you?"

Joey settled down next to Chris, leaning side by side on the table.

"Kayleigh called, so I had to swing by the cinema."

"I thought you had the day off, for the concert."

"I did." Chris felt Joey shrug. "It's not her fault that the card system went down. Mark's off sick, and she isn't authorised to deal with the financial side of things. I just had to make some calls, send a couple of faxes - that kind of thing. It's kinda interesting, how the paper-based systems kick in, and how few people have cash. I'm just glad she didn't call in the middle of the show! Do we know how much we raised, by the way?"

"You didn't talk to Kell?"

"No, I saw Lance, and he said you were out here."

Chris turned his head and squinted at Joe, waiting. Joey and Kelly were super-close friends, so there had to be a 'but' coming.

"Okay, so he also said you were being weird."

Chris relaxed again.

"So it wasn't AJ that sent you out here, then?"

"AJ? Why would AJ send me ... oh. This isn't about him getting a crush on Lance, isn't it?"

Chris found himself smiling. "I love you, man. These kids would be so sunk without us, wouldn't they?"

"Huh?"

Chris shifted round, pulling up one leg, so he was sitting side-on and able to look Joey in the eye.

"Lance thinks I'm being weird because I pointed out that AJ was watching him when we were singing, earlier."

"Are you? Being weirder than normal, I mean. You know he wouldn't do anything to hurt either one of you, right?"

Chris smiled again. "Of course I know that. I'm not being all jealous and possessive, which I guess is maybe weird, but - no. It's kind of the opposite."

"The opposite - oh, oh man, you didn't?" Joey was covering his mouth with one hand, and his eyes were sparkling.

"I didn't drape my boyfriend in mistletoe and throw him at yours, no," Chris mimed smacking Joey over the head. "I just dropped the idea that maybe it wouldn't be bad if AJ was flirting a little."

Joey thought about it for a minute, while Chris took a final draw on his cigarette, and ground it out into the but-pot's wet sand.

"Okay that he's flirting, or more than that?" Joey said, eventually.

"Okay that maybe we have a conversation about more than that." Chris dangled the idea. "I mean - starting with if that's okay with you, and with AJ."

Joey nodded his head, slowly. "Yeah - yeah, I think that's probably a good idea. Whatever we decide, talking about it all together seems like that would be a good plan." Chris nodded, and Joey leaned over and slung his arm over Chris's shoulders. "Come back to ours later?" Joey asked.

"That'd be good," Chris agreed, leaning into the hug. "How come we're the sane ones now?"

"Benefits of age and experience," Joey answered, sagely, and kissed Chris on the temple. "Old man."

Chris sputtered, and twisted round to poke Joey sharply in the ribs, which slid them both off the table, and led to a brief scuffle, which ended up with Joey's hands clamped around Chris's wrists, and using his height advantage to keep Chris far away.

"Truce," Chris admitted, and then, as soon as Joe released him, flung his arms around Joey's waist and squeezed.

"Right - want to head back in to the party?"

"Sure," Joey agreed.

***

People started drifting away as the night drew on, but when the pub kicked them out at the end of the evening, there was still a goodly crowd talking and hugging on the pavement, slowly forming clumps of folks heading the same way - Allysa and Tina and Brian to the tube station, others to various bus stops. As usual Kelly, 'Tina and Rihanna were amongst the last to leave, Kelly always wanting to have one last conversation with everyone as they left - best damn choir master and mother hen they could have found. By the time Kelly was hugging AJ and reminding him to wrap up warm so he wouldn't lose his voice before the hospice show, Chris, Lance, and Joey were the only other men left.

"So - nightcap back at mine?" Joe asked.

"Sounds good," Chris answered, whilst beside him, Lance made a performance of stamping his feet and wrapping his arms around himself.

"Coffee? Please tell me you have coffee? Oh - or hot chocolate?"

Joey grabbed Lance around the neck, mock growling, "You think I don't got coffee, hot chocolate and three types of tea? You think?" and then looked over and gave Chris a far-from-subtle wink.

Lance wriggled free, and ducked behind Chris before taunting, "You got milk that's still safe to drink this time?"

"One time, man. One time. I'm wounded."

"Hey, hey, boys - no strangling my best bass two weeks before Christmas!" Kelly interrupted their horseplay. "Seriously - go home, before we all catch pneumonia. I'll see you all Tuesday, right?"

Chris nodded - Tuesday rehearsals had been a standard fixture in his diary for years now.

"Lunch with the girls tomorrow, right?" Joey asked, and then leaned over to give Kelly a warm embrace and a kiss on the cheek. The original plan had always been for Joe to just be the sperm donor, which had turned into being their 'secular guide parent and male role model', and from there to 'Papa Joe!' a much loved regular visitor. Chris had never asked Kelly's lover, Amanda, what Amanda felt about Joey's role in her daughters' lives, but - well - she was still around, and so was Joe, so obviously it worked well enough even if it hadn't been the original plan.

"Cool. G'Night, guys!" Kelly blew kisses to Chris and Lance, as Tina and Rihanna dragged her off towards the station.

"Night!" Chris waved back, and then turned, tucking his arm through Lance's. "So - nightcap?"

Joey's flat was a five minute walk from the pub, close enough and in an area where they didn't worry to much about walking arm in arm, even at pub closing on a Saturday night, so not an unfamiliar destination for a post-pub wind down, but this time Chris felt very sober, but oddly calm. Lance was warm and solid next to him, their steps effortlessly matching, and in front of them, AJ had his arm around Joey's waist, leaning in to him, and - everything was good.

***

They were all crammed into Joey's cramped galley kitchen, when Joey decided to announce the agenda for the evening.

"Um, Chris and I, we were thinking that we should talk, about this whole Lance-crush thing, and how we might - well, what happens next."

AJ glared at Joey, while Lance rolled his eyes.

"Way to make hot monkey sex sound like a management meeting, Joe." Chris tried to salvage the conversation. "It's just, we should talk it out, if we're ..."

Lance had dropped one heavy arm around Chris's shoulders, and closed his hand over Chris's mouth, muffling him. "Hey, Joey - you promised me hot chocolate," he said, tightening his grip as Chris tried to pull away.

"Ooh!" AJ stopped glaring, and instead leaned into Joey, hands clasped between them like a Disney princess. "Hot milk, with honey and marshmallows, Joey-bear? Please?" He pulled Joey's hands up between them and peppered Joey's hands with kisses.

"Hot chocolate with milk? You're the best!"

"But we really need ..." Joey tried to get the conversation back on track.

"...to go watch the final of Strictly Come Dancing, so I can turn my mobile back on without getting spoiled completely on who won." AJ derailed it again.

And now AJ and Lance were on the couch, curled up against the either arm with their socked feet tangling in the middle.

Chris was leaning against the door frame, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee laced with grappa, watching them, whilst behind him Joey faffed about in the kitchen, heating milk and melting chocolate.

Did this mean he'd screwed up?

Chris wasn't sure.

You'd think 'suggesting a foursome and getting shot down' would be the kind of thing you'd be sure had gone wrong, but apparently ... Lance didn't seem mad; he'd basically shut down the conversation by hugging Chris into silence, and he'd given Chris a lingering kiss on the lips before AJ dragged him off to find out who'd won their reality tv drug of choice. None of that shouted 'you screwed this up forever'.

AJ had scowled at Joey, but then he'd also kissed him, and the way he was poking Lance's leg and insisting that Lance and the judges were totally wrong about someone's costume choice just didn't look like AJ being angry, upset, or embarrassed. If anything, AJ looked much more comfortable than he had earlier.

"I can hear you thinking." AJ twisted round and looked straight at Chris. His eyeliner was smudged, and his eyes were a little bloodshot, but he was meeting Chris's eyes and smiling. "Shut up and come sit down, huh?"

He held out a hand, and Chris took it, stumbling round the end of the sofa, in a parody of the elegant twirls on the screen. Joey's beat-up second-hand couch was a two-and-a-half seater, because that was all that would fit in the undersized living room. Chris visited often enough to know that the middle half a seat was an invitation for the frame of the sofa to become one with your spine, so instead of trying to wedge himself between AJ and Lance, he used Lance's knee as a brace to lower himself to the floor between them. AJ and Joey kept a heap of beanbags and cushions around the couch for that very purpose. Lance shifted so that he had his calf across Chris's chest, and Chris dropped his head back, resting it on AJ's knee, letting the music on the tv wash over him.

"Better?" Lance asked.

"Yup," Chris nodded. Angry people very rarely invite you to snuggle with them, so - more evidence that he hadn't screwed up.

"Good," said AJ, and someone slid a hand under Chris's neck, fingers kneading at the tension there, and from the angle - that someone was also AJ. Chris must have frowned, because a second later another hand started smoothing his forehead. Lance's hand. It was - disconcerting. Nice, but disconcerting.

Fortunately Joey interrupted the moment before Chris had to decide how to react, by coming in with two steaming mugs. They did smell good, and above Chris, AJ and Lance moved to sit more upright, and took their drinks with murmured 'thank you's.

Joey vanished, and then came back with his own drink, and nudged Chris with his foot. "Budge up."

Chris reluctantly opened his eyes, and straightened up, carefully holding his coffee away from himself as he shifted. Joey was nudging him left, so Chris scooted left. It wasn't until Joey handed Chris his mug for safekeeping, while he re-piled some cushions into a comfortable arrangement, that Chris realised that he'd just been nudged across to sit in front of AJ while Joey was settling in between Lance's legs.

Huh.

Joey gestured for Chris to give him his drink back, and then, once he'd transferred the oversized Godfather mug to his right hand, dropped his left into Chris's lap and gave Chris's thigh a reassuring squeeze.

"Oh, come on!" Lance bounced on the couch at the same time AJ wolfwhistled. "No way," Lance insisted. "That's gymnastics, not ballroom dancing."

"Just 'cos the guy you're rooting for has no skills."

Chris looked over at Joey, who smiled back and shrugged. "If it makes 'em happy," he stage-whispered, and neither AJ nor Lance seemed to notice.

***

The alcohol and the caffeine in Chris's coffee must have cancelled themselves out, because he'd slipped from just resting his eyes to blinking at Vin Diesel slamming a car through a drag race, which was a marked improvement on the dancing show, but still. His mouth was dry, his eyes were gritty, and he just knew his knees were going to start screaming at him as soon as the blood supply came back.

Joey was stretched out on the floor, and Chris could hear the soft proto-snores that meant Lance was asleep as well. Chris craned his neck, try to see AJ, and got a shock when AJ patted him on the shoulder.

"Kitchen?" AJ whispered, and Chris nodded. Getting up without waking either Joey or Lance was an exercise in biting his lip, but eventually Chris limped out to the kitchen with one dead-leg, gingerly awaiting the arrival of pins and needles. AJ followed after, switching off the overhead lights to leave Joey and Lance bathed in the light of the tv, and whatever spilled across the tiny hallway from the kitchen.

The kitchen was chilly, and Chris was cold all the way inside as he leaned on the work surface. "What time is it?"

"About half two. Tea?"

Chris nodded, and hissed as he shifted his now tingling, agonising foot.

"Pins and needles?" AJ clicked the kettle on.

Chris nodded again. "Why are we whispering?"

The tv was plenty loud, but not loud enough to wake the sleepers.

"I don't know," AJ whispered back, cracking a smile. "Secret spy stuff?"

"Oh, right, yeah - I forgot." Chris was still whispering.

AJ made them tea in silence, while Chris leaned over on the counter, rocking back and forth and willing the blood back into his leg, trying not to swear. When AJ held up the milk, Chris nodded, and then held up a single finger when AJ waved a teaspoon. It was - companionable.

When the tea was ready, Chris turned round, and they stood, side by side, backs against the work surface, staring either down at the mugs or across the hall, where their men were snoring. The hot mug was incredibly comforting, the first couple of mouthfuls leaving warm trails Chris could feel all the way down to his stomach.

"Didn't you have an early shoot today? Yesterday?" Chris asked after a while.

"Yeah."

"But you're not asleep now."

"Observant."

"I do try."

AJ shrugged. "Insomnia's a bitch. You get used to it."

"So it's not us being here, or ..." Chris let his sentence trail off.

"Nah."

There was the sound of a crash and explosion from the tv, but after that had died down, the sound of snoring continued. Chris drank some more tea.

"You're not pissed off, then?" AJ asked, and then took another swig of his tea, as though he was cutting himself off to prevent babble.

"Nope."

"Don't want to screw things up."

Chris had to smile at that. "Me either, man. I don't think it has to."

"No?"

"Lying, sneaking around hiding shit? That's what screws things up. Trusting, sharing, honesty - that's the good stuff, right?"

"Trust, laughing and sex."

"Trust, laughing, and sex." Chris raised his mug in a toast. AJ clinked his against Chris's.

***

Joey's room wasn't big, but after Joey-Mac had moved out and AJ had moved in, they'd turned the flat around so that AJ's room was the office, wardrobe and junk room, and stripped everything out of Joey's to make space for the super-king bed he'd managed to score on Freecycle. Chris knew this, because he'd been roped in not only to hire a van to collect the bed , but also to help carry it down five flights of stairs from a tower block with no working lift.

He'd never actually slept in it, but AJ was right - there was enough space for all of them. The cold drizzle had turned into a proper rain storm, hammering at the windows, and waking Lance up to get him to shuffle down the hall was so much less cruel than either waking him up to go stand in the rain and wait for a night-bus, or leaving him to sleep crunched up on the couch.

"Hey, babe? Lance?" Chris shook Lance gently by the shoulder, and got a mumble and a head-toss for his reward. "Lance!"

Meanwhile, AJ was waking Joey, who sat up sharply, looking around worriedly. "Hush, just me, Joey-bear. Nothing's wrong. Time to head to bed."

"Oh, right." Joey slumped again, blinking blearily. "What 'bout Lance. And Chris?"

"Lance!" Chris called again, and this time Lance's eyes opened a bit. "Wanna sleep," he muttered.

"Yup," said Chris. "And you'll be better off in a bed. C'mon. Up. Just down the hall, babe."

"They're gonna share with us. That's okay, right, Joe?" AJ was saying, and Chris almost gave away the fact he was listening quite hard when Joey's reply was "But I don't have shorts on.", which to Chris's sleep deprived brain seemed like the funniest sentence ever.

"You can put some shorts on, hon. Or be naked. It's all good."

"Naked?" Lance asked, confused.

"It's all good," Chris parroted AJ's reply. "Up you come."

Chris hauled on Lance's arm, and then led his still-half-asleep boyfriend down the corridor. Joey and AJ stumbled in behind them, and Joey flopped directly onto the enormous bed, rolling into the middle and undoing his belt before giving up.

Lance sat down on the far edge of the bed, carefully taking off his socks, while Chris unbuttoned his over shirt, and tried not to pay any attention to AJ pulling Joey's jeans off - it had occurred to him that he was pretty sure everyone knew everyone's opinions on the possibility of AJ and Lance hooking up, but he and Joey had stopped their occasional hookups before he and Lance had gotten together, and he wasn't even sure if AJ knew they had ever been more than just friends.

It was probably for the best that Joe's t-shirt was pretty long.

Lance tipped back on to the bed, shucking his jeans, and then curling towards Joey's shoulder. Chris and AJ wrestled the duvet free of Joey's bare legs, to spread over both of them - given how Joey was already sprawling, most of the way back asleep, it was a good thing the bed hadn't been made after all.

"Hop in." AJ nodded towards the bed. "I'm just going to shut everything off."

"Thanks." Chris kept his voice low. "You want to leave the bathroom light on?"

"Will do," AJ said, and didn't ask, which Chris was grateful for. Waking up in the pitch black in an unfamiliar bed wasn't the recipe for getting back to sleep without making an idiot of himself. Not, he thought to himself as he stripped down to boxers and t-shirt and collapsed next to Lance, that he was planning on waking up while it was still dark out.

***

It should have been strange to wake up in bed with AJ on one side of him and a naked Joey on the other, but the first thing Chris saw when he opened his eyes was Lance, sitting at the foot of the bed, squeezing Chris's foot with one hand and holding a mug of coffee in the other, which was both pretty normal and entirely a good thing.

"Hey, sleepy heads," Lance said, and AJ mumbled in Chris's ear. "I made coffee. I was going to run down to MacDonalds, get breakfast before they stop serving."

"Good plan," Chris said, and elbowed Joey. "Hey, Joe! Breakfast?"

"Eh?" Joey mumbled, and then turned over, dragging most of the duvet with him.

AJ's arm reached over Chris and hauled a chunk of covers back. "You made coffee?" he said.

"Yep - on the bedside table. You just gotta sit up."

"Love you, man," AJ said, and Chris agreed.

"You're a hero. There's cash in my wallet - I think my jeans are round about where you are."

"I got it - you want the usual, right? How about you, AJ?"

"Sausage and egg muffin for me? And pancake and sausage for Joe?"

"Sausage and egg, twice, one pancakes and sausage, bagel for me." Lance repeated the order to memorise it, putting his cup down on the floor. "I can do that."

He squeezed between the oversized bed and the wall, and lent over AJ to kiss Chris, first on the forehead, and then, when Chris tipped his head, on the lips.

"I'll be back," he said between kisses, "in about ten minutes."

Chris reached up to pull Lance back for a final kiss, and beside them, AJ breathed, "God."

Lance's tongue dabbed against Chris's before he pulled back, sealing the deal with a butterfly kiss on Chris's nose.

"Listen for the doorbell?"

"I'll let you in, babe."

And then Lance pulled back a little, and leaned down to drop another kiss, this time on AJ's mouth. AJ froze.

"Don't let the coffee go cold," Lance instructed them both as he side-stepped back around the bed. "Back in a few."

"Be safe, babe," Chris called, and then pried himself up on one elbow to see where the coffee was. Way too far away, was the answer, so Chris abandoned that thought, and turned back to AJ instead. He didn't really think about it, but ended up with his top arm draped over AJ's bare chest.

"It's okay," Chris said, hoping it was true.

"Yeah," AJ said, and then again more firmly. "Better than okay."

Chris smiled against AJ's shoulder.

Behind them, Joey shifted and rolled back onto his, his arm draping over Chris to tangle his fingers with AJ's, and said something into the back of Chris's neck.

"What?" AJ asked, digging his elbow into Chris's ribs as he poked Joey in the side.

Joey lifted his head off the pillow and pronounced with great seriousness, "I said : awesome."

Chris couldn't help it, and his smile became a chuckle, which became more and more a laugh as he tried to keep it out of his voice as he repeated the word, "Awesome", because - it was. Trust and laughter, and when Lance got back, maybe the rest.

And it didn't feel at all screwed up.

***


End file.
